Help with a Mantle

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

Just because something can be signed doesn't mean it is. Even if all of Steve's criteria are fulfilled doesn't mean it doesn't have to look like the person's signature. It does. Those loops mean something. If you knew anything about Mantle, you would know that his signature changed in a very distinct ways over the course of his career. Many people can tell a 1955 sig from a 1957 sig quite easily. Once the beginning of the auto boom in the late 70's/early 80's, Mantle took special pride in his auto and was a machine. He could be fall down drunk nearly unconscious and his auto was almost exact.
My father player country music in the 70's and Mantle and Martin would come into a club he played in frequently in Manhattan(O'Lunney's). I have a couple of Mantle autos from those times where he was absolutely hammered to the point of nearly passing out and they look almost identical to standard sig from that era. Again all of this info comes from experience, which you obviously do not have. Just because you don't know this doesn't mean others don't. .

That's the bit he missed. The questions I ask are just basic
criteria, for someone inexperienced they can eliminate a fair portion of bad stuff, but nowhere near all. That's where having that mental library of the loops etc makes the difference. And why I don't spend much on autographs. Maybe someday, but most of the time I don't feel I'm ready yet.

Originally Posted by Lordstan

This is the exact type of thing someone who knows little about autographs tells themselves to make themselves feel smarter than everyone else. If you knew something about autographs, you would know that it can be very easy to tell bad sigs from good. Just because you can't, doesn't mean others can't.

The take away is that knowledge is power. People here have knowledge and share it freely with pretty much all who ask. I think that it is pretty cool that there is a place like this around to help people. I can't count how many people have been steered away from bad purchases by the people in this forum. If you don't think the expertise here has value then you don't have to take advantage of it, but it is rude to ridicule those who offer their assistance freely.

That is also very true. It's easier to spot most bad stuff than good stuff. The help available here is amazing, both as short term help like "is this ok" to longer term learning so you don't have to ask.

To the experienced guys who provide that here's something that needs to be said more often by the rest of us.
Thank you!

Steve B